There’s an interesting interview within the New York Times written by Thomas Friedman who interviews Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the current changes taking place within Saudi Arabia and MbS’s intense drive to modernize and engage. The article is well worth reading.

CTH would be remiss if we didn’t draw attention to the level of jaw-dropping weasel linguistics that Friedman uses to jump on the MbS bandwagon. If you have never read Friedman’s interviews of President Obama –EXAMPLE HERE– you might not see it.

However, if you have watched the decade of fawning idolatry expressed by Friedman toward the Chicago lightbringer you’ll immediately notice the tell-tale signs of a pontificating liberal [shallow-minded simpleton] attempting to retain relevance by claiming proximity toward perspectives that are 180 degrees away from his previous prose.

There’s a particular level of inauthentic weaselistics that goes beyond the normal level of liberal snobbery. If you’ve ever experienced the shallow pinky-raised elites, group-talking about their sensitive wine palates while the Sommelier tricks them with $10 vino; or if you’ve heard stories of the cloistered-clutch waxing philosophically at art exhibitions which were actually switched for Kindergarten scribbles… well, then you know Friedman’s tribe.

In real terms there’s a level of profound irony within this interview. The changes within Saudi Arabia are directly supported by a U.S. president empowering Saudi Arabia to manifest its own destiny.

President Trump has reshaped mid-east policy, and formed a strong coalition, based on a partnership among co-equals. This is not about the U.S., this change is about Saudi Arabia.

That Trumpian outlook is a complete reverse of the Bush/Obama Doctrine of forcing their personal definition of ‘Western values‘ to provide support. Yet Friedman can’t even see that paradigm shift; his ideology is so mired in selfishness it is invisible to him.

Just like Teh One espousing best foreign policy from a position of his personal view on the matter, hence Obama’s use of: “I this” and “I that”, everything is about them. Even serious and consequential international geopolitical shifts are expressed by these elitist news-scribes through the prism of prideful self relevance:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — I never thought I’d live long enough to write this sentence: The most significant reform process underway anywhere in the Middle East today is in Saudi Arabia. Yes, you read that right. Though I came here at the start of Saudi winter, I found the country going through its own Arab Spring, Saudi style.

Unlike the other Arab Springs — all of which emerged bottom up and failed miserably, except in Tunisia — this one is led from the top down by the country’s 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and, if it succeeds, it will not only change the character of Saudi Arabia but the tone and tenor of Islam across the globe. Only a fool would predict its success — but only a fool would not root for it.

To better understand it I flew to Riyadh to interview the crown prince, known as “M.B.S.,” who had not spoken about the extraordinary events here of early November, when his government arrested scores of Saudi princes and businessmen on charges of corruption and threw them into a makeshift gilded jail — the Riyadh Ritz Carlton — until they agreed to surrender their ill-gotten gains. You don’t see that every day.

We met at night at his family’s ornate adobe-walled palace in Ouja, north of Riyadh. M.B.S. spoke in English, while his brother, Prince Khalid, the new Saudi ambassador to the U.S., and several senior ministers shared different lamb dishes and spiced the conversation. After nearly four hours together, I surrendered at 1:15 a.m. to M.B.S.’s youth, pointing out that I was exactly twice his age. It’s been a long, long time, though, since any Arab leader wore me out with a fire hose of new ideas about transforming his country.

We started with the obvious question: What’s happening at the Ritz? (read more)

Please be very careful with veganism. For a short time, for a cleanse, for a phase of life, it may be good. Please do it wisely and carefully. Including more veggies, good idea. Staying away from all fast food, Very good idea. Eating only meat and animal products from healthy farms, that lived in a healthy way and were fed proper diets, all Very good, health improving moves. But veganism can be a health ruiner. I was raised vegan and have the health issues to show for it including issues from chronic Vit B12 depravation, chronic anemia, etc. Also, I was raised with much soy and that added many health issues. I only share because it was very detrimental to my health. Take care.

Thank you, Katherine. I do remember a comment you’d made earlier in the past few weeks(?) about this and I’ve taken your good information to heart. Thank you for caring about fellow Treepers and taking the time to say something.

So glad you took my comments as intended and didn’t take my comments as bossy or preachy. Simple, whole foods made from scratch, plenty of veggies, good quality meat and wholesome ingredients will serve well. You might enjoy looking into home fermented foods as well. Weston Price diet has been our basic guide for years but with no grain as that doesn’t work for us (I MISS grains but arthritis and fibromyalgia like symptoms are greatly reduced without it so its easy to say no to all grain products & both my son and husband feel much better with only a little grain like oats and rice in their diet). Best of luck finding what works best for you and being the healthiest you.

T Friedman is imho insufferable, to a deplorable (moi). That is French (for those libs who studied Russian, only). Great info from Dr Price; I also follow GundryMD. Two safe lectin-free grains that I now love are sorghum and millet: no inflammatories, yo! “Plant Paradox,” book, in your public library.

On the cover of “Time” magazine for the November 24, 1997 issue, a gigantic, menacing Saddam Hussein is glaring down at a little Bill Clinton – ‘SHOWDOWN” is emblazoned across the cover –

within, an article about the really scary Saddam confronting President Clinton – Thomas Friedman and George Stephanopoulos discuss the grave danger posed by the Iraqi leader and they OPENLY discuss assassinating Saddam Hussein – they even contemplated a “head shot” for Saddam Hussein –

all these twenty years since I saw that “Time” magazine in the grocery store and read it I have been wanting to know why Thomas Friedman and George Stephanopoulos were not totally castigated and kicked to the curb for making those statements. I cannot read anything written by Thomas Friedman without wondering why anyone gives him any credence. He is such a jerk!

I was going to try to paste a link here but it did not pan out –

if you want to see that “Time” magazine cover, the date was November 24, 1997.

I was vegan for four years, and made everything from scratch using whole foods. It was the best I’ve felt in years. I plan to get back to more plant based this coming year. I still make plant based chili and it’s no different than chili with hamburger. Tastes the same. I have tons of vegan/veterinarian cookbooks. What caused me to fall away was nerve neuropathy in my left foot and leg. It’s difficult to stand for any period of time without pain (and my back as well). But I am starting to feel better again, so, hoping 2018 will be a much better year health-wise than 2016 and 2017.

Katherine, I completely agree with you. I am a health consultant so vegans and vegetarians don’t like me to remind them of what their bodies need to be well and survive. I only guess they like their teeth turning dark to black from lack of calcium that red meat gets the calcium to the bones, or they hair is greyer than mine at 80 will ever be – I still have my own dirty blonde hair, that they will have many illnesses due to needed protein which no amount of plant protein can provide what the body needs. God gave us such good foods to eat, so no reason to turn up your noses to them. Don’t eat in excess (like those 16 o or 32 oz steaks!) or live on sweets because your body is not satisfied without some flesh in the diet, eggs are so full of many needed nutrients and so many ways to prepare them. I always suggest they read the book Vegetarian Myths because the author actually wound up with spinal problems before wising up. I am blessed with good health and energy and brain power and so glad when I was seriously ill that I went to study nutrition and found that I was sick because of poor choices. Bless you and your recovery. By the way raw soy is good but soy in other formats is not good, which is why in our home we use only Shaklee protein products. No worry about affecting the breasts – but on the other hand cellphones are affecting brains, breasts and the crotch area with cancers.

You do have to be careful, I found that out when I became a Pegan. Which means I’m almost vegan except I eat fowl. No mammal products since the alpha gal problem that came from the bite of a Lone Star Tick. I did have to supplement B-12, and some other stuff. I don’t tolerate mammal products at all now.

Absolutely correct! Especially modern hybrids. I quit eating wheat in any form. No gluten. No gluten means no gliadin. No gliadin means no middle of the night hunger and refrigerator raids at 2AM. Weight melts away as hunger pangs no longer rule me.

If you have very vivid bad dreams, and sometimes beat on your bedmate, blame it on Soy products. We were great fans of Asian foods until we discovered MSG and soy products cause wild nights. It’s amazing how many foods and condiments contain soy as a taste booster.

In fact, if arsenic is essential for humans, its recommended daily intake would be little different from selenium, which is so important that evolution incorporated it into the rare amino acid selenocysteine—the crucial component of the antioxidizing selenoproteins that help to repair other proteins from oxidative damage. The recommended dose of selenium is 40 μg per day, whereas extrapolations from mammalian studies suggest that humans might need between 12.5 μg and 25 μg of arsenic.[…]”

So I agree with Katherine McCoun, stick to locally grown meat where you can actually visit and see for yourself the conditions the animals are raised in if you can. It is one of the things I love about NC, although it has a downside. NC is boron poor and has a high incidence of arthritis as a result.

I’m surprised your parents did not know about B12!! I tried being vegetarian a couple of times, but I cannot get enough protein from plants. I’m lactose intolerant so I could not eat any cheese or dairy either. My nails start shredding after about 3 weeks, and I feel it gave me premature aging of the skin.

I now eat a well-rounded diet; I do eat red meat but usually not more than once a week (after a long hike, I really feel a craving for a hamburger!). Mostly poultry and fish. I eat about 75% organic; animal is either organic or hormone/antibiotic free. Vegies are all organic and I eat quite a lot, even for breakfast!

I also take a lot of nutritional supplements; I do use soy milk but mostly it goes in my coffee and if I need it for cooking. It is all non-gmo. I have a friend who is vegan…good luck to her is all I have to say.

They knew about b12 but thought we could eat a well rounded vegan diet (oxymoron!) and get enough via plant based options, including Brewers yeast for b12. Veganism and vegetarianism have been around for a long time, before people fully understood its ramifications. SDA church was promoting it in the 1800s. My Grandmother reduced her meat eating, my mother was mostly vegetarian most of her life and even during pregnancy. They were influenced by their church and doing what they thought was best for us but they were wrong.

Yes, there are many nutrients in meat not found elsewhere or found in very small amounts or found in less bio available forms. Iron in plants and iron in meat is not the same. Plants have a fraction of the iron and what they do have is less readily available. Just one example.

Most negatives of meat can be negated by your source of meat and the proportion of meat to other things in your diet. Proper fats (careful of vegetable oils and increase hard fats like tallow) and judicious use of grain and sugar will solve many issues for which meat/animal products are currently blamed.

I am 81 and have all my hair and all my teeth and the teeth are white, proper weight. No health problems. low statins erc. I avoid all so called health foods and eat a combination of meat and veggies and am active. Remember coyotes eat meat and cows eat veggies. Coyotes are active and cows are not.

If you can’t stick to it, your body’s telling you something. Add all the delicious foods you can think of: avocados, nuts, tortillas and refried beans (vegan type). And if you can tolerate foods that never had conscious life, add cheese omelets topped with yogurt.

I just can’t stomach Friedman, never could.
The only thing worse than stumbling onto – and realizing I’ve wandered into – a Friedman article, is seeing his idiot face pop up on my tv while flipping channels.

As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure I just developed a case of IBS just from reading these first few paragraphs.

When ranking which multi-millionaire American pundit is the most overrated, there are, without doubt, many worthy contenders, but one near the top of any list must be the New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman with his long record of disastrous policy pronouncements including his enthusiasm for George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq.

Friedman, of course, has paid no career price for his misguided judgments and simplistic nostrums. Like many other star pundits who inhabit the Op-Ed pages of the Times and the Washington Post, Friedman has ascended to a place where the normal powers of gravity don’t apply, where the cumulative weight of his errors only lifts him up.

Indeed, there is something profoundly nonsensical about Friedman’s Olympian standing, inhabiting a plane of existence governed by the crazy rules of Washington’s conventional wisdom, where when looking down on the rest of us Friedman feels free to cast aspersions on other people’s sanity, like the Mad Hatter calling the Church Mouse nuts.

Ditto your feelings. So glad Sundance is brave enough to read articles by this Nobel prize winning jacka$$ so I don’t have to go through agravation.

Friedman’s insistence that there is no reason why a country should ever worry about an ever increasing debt is one thing, but his arrogant dismissal of anyone who disagrees with printing money endlessly as being intellectually inferior to him is just too much for me.

A number of years ago, I read his mind-numbingly dull book The Lexus and the Olive Tree–most of which I have mercifully forgotten (old age has its blessings). The one thing from it that has stuck with me, though, is his certainty that Enron was the paradigm for the new modern era. ‘Nuff said?

Did you know that Enron paid consultants $50,000 to come up with a name for the company? The name they came up with was “Enteron”. Now, most people don’t know what that word means, and the consultants didn’t either (or did they??!!) Meanwhile, the name was announced for this natural gas-selling energy company. When the truth was known, they, um, shortened the name to Enron. (True story. Read the book.)

P 16:18-20 (trying to trick wp….2nd try)
18Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
19Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.

But, it you go to IN-N-OUT Burger, you can find verses on the bottom of cups, on the french fry wrappers, and some of the other packaging. (OK, I know, what am I doing reading milkshake cups and french fry wrappers… label reader here, actually label peeler, too 🙂 )…

One of the verses is sbrevorP 3:5… I like the whole chapter, but read ’em and Weep munched the whole thing… as well as another reply I made about it…

No, I memorized it in High School out to 120 places. A friend of mine and I were having a nerdy competition (aka how to bore people to death at parties). A lot of the digits have disappeared over the years, though. I did look up to see just how much I did remember though. Back then there weren’t anywhere near as many places calculated, and in some of my classes we got to calculate a few digits by hand, as well as taking square and cube roots. Ahh, slide rules and logs… only have Presto logs anymore 🙂

There’s a fellow now who has it memorized out to 4000 places or so (and I thought 120 was BOOOORING). He could calculate the circumference of the galaxy to within a micron or so with that many places…

What’s really cool is how many places have been figured out by supercomputers. Last time I looked (a few years back) it was in the trillions. Still no patterns, still irrational.

Just like libs….

But at least Pi is useful and tastes good too… (and comes on a shirt from ThinkGeek)…

We have read Sundance describe his thoughts on the new Sunni and Israelis coalition to confront Iran these past months. It seems to be falling into place in more ways then one. The modernization program of MBS is startling.

This is the one and only mention of our President by sleazy Friedman. Sad these people are still employed or taken serious…

“His general view seemed to be that with the backing of the Trump administration — he praised President Trump as “the right person at the right time” — the Saudis and their Arab allies were slowly building a coalition to stand up to Iran. I am skeptical.

Of course that peasant would be skeptical he is a lifelong socialist liberal. The man is also a fake, a moocher and parasite to freedom loving people. He epitomizes the left’s narcissistic, socialistic-inbred nature and the evilness therein.

“Unlike the other Arab Springs — all of which emerged bottom up and failed miserably, except in Tunisia — this one is led from the top down by the country’s 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman…”

I am doubtful that the Arab Springs were from the “bottom up” and I am incredibly suspicious that they were organic or even native to the Arab countries. Seems to be they were seeded, encouraged and pulled along by the Deep State, CIA and even Google executives. I think they weren’t bottom up but from the outside. This reform/change is being by leaders from within rather than forced and flames fanned from without.

I still don’t get the Arab Springs, the US reaction to the Arab Springs, what we/the US would have gained from the Arab Springs changes and why the US possibly thought it was good and acceptable to interfere in foreign nations in such a way! Why don’t other countries call the US out on the Deep State’s interference!?! Why does our own “media” not see the hypocrisy of the Russia conspiracy when the US has involved itself in other countries affairs and elections for years?

That episode and the US behavior during/toward the situation left me with so many questions. Why was the US so eager for the changes of the Arab Springs? Why were democracies encouraged when we aren’t even a democracy? Perhaps because mob rule is so much easier to influence and because there is so little accountability? Why did the US support the Muslim Brotherhood in many of these countries when they do not support us?

I am amazed how many things are now facts that if I had heard someone voice at the time I would have labeled a crazy, imagined “conspiracy theory”. Now, we know so many things actually were due to conspiracies within the gov such as this, such as the IRS targeting conservatives and conservative groups and the list goes on and on.

I think you are right.
Lets see how this one plays out. I dont trust the Saudis.
I think they are aiming for a UAE style transformation to suck international banking and western investment out of Dubai/Abu Dhabi. The corruption needs to be flushed before that happens. Time will tell if this is real or one criminal gang purging the competition.

The Arab Spring was top down and seeded by obama to facilitate the take over of N. Africa by his homies, the muslim brotherhood. Obivious from the beginning by all of us old farts who have been paying attention over the last 30 years..

I had not found the Treehouse at the point or I am sure I would have read about the true causes at the time. I didn’t start reading (and learning) here until the Florida mess. Was so glad to find haven of reason and logic and have been here ever since!

Yes, many things are becoming more obvious as I look back with new understanding.

Exactly. Liberals like to blame Bush for starting the migrant crisis because of Iraq but the strong men in power(Gaddafi, Assad) were keeping things in check. It’s despicable that the MSM gave a pass to Obama and Clinton when it was obvious they were responsible for this unbelievable disaster and for another disaster, ISIS.

Egypts was engineered by the Muslim Brotherhood and aided by Google and FaceBook. The Ikwan finally came to power after 90 years of being fundamentalist losers and after a year were overthrown in a coup.

The “Arab Springs” were organic, from the bottom up. When 100’s of 1,000’s hit the streets at the same time in multiple Countries at the same time ….. that IS organic bottom up. The CIA and TeamObama we’re caught completely flat footed and clueless about the entire thing.

Obama cared about few things. #1 was what was good for him. #2 was promoting Iran.
He only thought about the Sunni Countries in relation to Iran. Obama was mostly clueless about history and world politics. He is a globalist & listened to other globalists.

The value in the Friedman article is that he knows the area and sees the huge change.
Freidman better buckle his seatbelt, he hasn’t seen anything yet.
A major alliance is formed – the major Sunni powers + Israel + TeamTRUMP.

I just love this from SD:
There’s a particular level of inauthentic weaselistics that goes beyond the normal level of liberal snobbery. If you’ve ever experienced the shallow pinky-raised elites, group-talking about their sensitive wine palates while the Sommelier tricks them with $10 vino; or if you’ve heard stories of the cloistered-clutch waxing philosophically at art exhibitions which were actually switched for Kindergarten scribbles… well, then you know Friedman’s tribe.

Gosh that reminds me of a few of my relatives and I have actually done the fake wine thing,…as long as they thought the local paper’s wine review raved about it so did they but little did they know it was just a cheap red that I liked the taste of….too funny

darnhardworker, I laugh with you. Had a neighbor and his visiting niece to Christmas dinner. Right off she says I don’t eat meat, so I made super delicious shrimp dish as well. I don’t drink wine any more and she said she only LIKED the best wines. Well, in CA we have what was 2 buck chuck (now $2.49) because in his divorce the ex would get good money and this way she would not. What happened? I said I have a Merlot and she drank the WHOLE BOTTLE and said that it was wonderful. Fools to the nth degree keep us entertained, do they not?

It doesn’t seem like (at this point, anyway) Pres Trump has promised our troops to Saudi, but rather just promised Saudi that we wouldn’t ‘go obama’ on them and supply jillions of dollars and/or military support to Iran.

Is this true? It does not sound like our President Trump would be a part of such interrogations: ” Saudi Arabia’s most powerful figures were arrested by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman three weeks ago as he ordered detention of at least 11 fellow princes and hundreds of businessmen & government officials over claims of corruption.

DailyMail.com disclosed that arrests have been followed by ‘interrogations’ which were being carried out by ‘American mercenaries’ that work for the 32-year-old crown prince.

The UK business world has been heavily invested in by these rogue Saudi princes and businessmen, for a long time.

While there may not be any direct investment in the Daily Mail from these jailed princes and Saudi businessmen…odds are that there are major advertisers & business connections with the Daily Mail, that are not happy about their buddies being arrested.

After the reveal of Fusion GPs ‘investments’ in 3 leftist ‘journalists’ (Pay-to-Say) I have no doubt that the Saudis could buy the entire MSM narrative for a 100 years for a mere $100 million. These soul sellers go for cheap. Can you sing and hum, Hummingbird?

I agree, Wheatie, that cutting off the monetary infusions into businesses has made some folks very unhappy, but the removal of funding to the jihadists, Islamic/MoBro front groups, SJW’s, anti-fa types, globalists of all stripes and the corrupt politicians that do their bidding has really put a hurtin’ on ’em.

I am not at a Friedman reader and found the article informative and interesting and I didn’t pick up on the subtle undertones, so am glad to have that pointed out. Yes, his failure to acknowledge President Trump’s part is certainly a deficit

T.F. came to the world class Detroit Auto show ( NAIAS ) in the mid 2000’s and derided pretty much the big 3 but specifically the Ford Excursion. Yes it was huge, but their was a market for it. Imagine back country skiers and snowmobiler’s needing to get to 13 and 14-er’s. Or how about teams of lineman needing to get to our western power grid, and this is on top of large families that wanted and needed them. I heard western sheep ranchers were snapping them up a while back, used at a good price as they could put a lot of sheep in them if they needed to get them out of harms way in an emergency.

T.F. didn’t get the Excursion, and that is a shame, because while probably a niche vehicle many did. My guess is he didn’t help with his down playing it, as is eventually disappeared. Ever since then, well I kind of resemble “suspicious cat” when he speaks…

Friedman’s distain for larger vehicles exemplifies his globalist elite world view.
He would like all of the commoners to ride in smart cars or take the bus while he and other elites ride around in limos.

The Power of Green
By Thomas Friedman

“We will need to find a way to reknit America at home, reconnect America abroad and restore America to its natural place in the global order — as the beacon of progress, hope and inspiration. I have an idea how. It’s called “green.”

“Because a new green ideology, properly defined, has the power to mobilize liberals and conservatives, evangelicals and atheists, big business and environmentalists around an agenda that can both pull us together and propel us forward.”

Yes. Whatever happened to that drive to declare LARGE vehicles as unsafe because if they hit a little Honda, the Honda gets crushed? –This was circa 1993 or 1994. Back then, I did not realize all of these issues were merely Marxist propaganda aimed at bringing down their enemy, our prevailing society. But back then I could tell it was a dumb issue – obviously, the Honda is the less-safe vehicle.

Not a fan of freidman, but this is an important piece (can pigs REALLY fly?). Everything in the news (except here) has been completely negative about what is happening in Saudi Arabia. This is almost like an introduction for the masses to new possibilities, from one of their most trusted sources of made up news. Good. Let’s chip in and send Tommy the die-hard globalist a MAGA hat. Never too late, you know.

u have first read about the previous meetings that Friedman did with previous saudi crown princes and kings.. example, in 2002 with back then crown prince abdullah, he said almost the same as what he is saying now! at the end, promised much but accomplished little.

“We met at night at his family’s ornate adobe-walled palace in Ouja, north of Riyadh. M.B.S. spoke in English, while his brother, Prince Khalid, the new Saudi ambassador to the U.S., and several senior ministers shared different lamb dishes and spiced the conversation. After nearly four hours together, I surrendered at 1:15 a.m. to M.B.S.’s youth, pointing out that I was exactly twice his age. It’s been a long, long time, though, since any Arab leader wore me out with a fire hose of new ideas about transforming his country.”

Come on, Scott. You know better than this. Friedman is a screaming SJW liberal, and that is exactly what Friedman sounds like. Friedman’s writings and words have absolutely NOTHING to do with being gay. Please stop.

No nonsense at all. It means that his language contained thinly veiled homosexual references/language/insinuations. They would have been simply sexual insinuations if they were made about a woman, but they weren’t, they were made about a man, and Friedman is also a man, ergo, homosexual. If you were reading it like you might read a movie review, the reviewer would call it ‘homoerotic’, which is (and has been for many decades) often put in to movie scripts by Hollywood liberals/Leftists.

Don’t take my word for it, look it up. I just tried it, search “straight films with homoerotic undertones”. Only 896,000 search results (Google), but still, that’s more than a few.

And I went to some trouble to explain exactly what I was referring to, by highlighting the specific text in boldface.

If you believe I said anything wrong, what was it (specifically) and why?

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“Friedman is a screaming SJW liberal, and that is exactly what Friedman sounds like. Friedman’s writings and words have absolutely NOTHING to do with being gay. Please stop.”

________________

I don’t doubt that Friedman is a scraming SJW leftist. I don’t read his articles (I could barely get through the excerpt above). I was commenting specifically on the paragraph I quoted in my original post. Let’s review:

“We met at night at his family’s ornate adobe-walled palace in Ouja, north of Riyadh.”

Is that a dime store novel, a daytime soap-opera, or what? “We met at night”? Cue the melodrama mood music…

What does ‘night’ have to do with anything? If they met in the day, would have have begun “We met in the day”?

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“…and spiced the conversation.”

By itself, it’s just a weird thing to say. In context of the surrounding paragraph, I don’t even know what to call it.

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“…I surrendered at 1:15 a.m. to M.B.S.’s youth.”

Are you kidding me? “I surrendered… to [his] youth”? Who talks like that? Is he a femme fatale out of a 1940s film noir, or a man?

……………………….Surrendered
transitive verb
1 a : to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand surrendered the fort
b : to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another

2 a : to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner
b : to give (oneself) over to something (such as an influence)

intransitive verb
: to give oneself up into the power of another : yield
……………………….

Have you EVER expressed yourself that way, with regard to another human being?

Yeah, me neither.

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“…wore me out with a fire hose…”

Stop it already.

I’ve never seen “Broke Back Mountain”, and I don’t intend to. Friedman’s article is close enough.

Whew! What a story. It’s subliminal: “We met at night. After nearly four hours together, I surrendered at 1:15 a.m. to M.B.S.’s youth. It’s been a long, long time since any Arab leader wore me out with a fire hose.”

“That always been his writing style – I actually remember Tom Friedman from the late 70’s to early 80’s – when he was a real journalist before he moved to New York to work for the Times.”

________________

Then Friedman is a powerfully feminine man, as in, he has ‘surrendered’ to his inner woman.

This isn’t complicated or even controversial. There is no way to talk as Friedman did and communicate anything resembling ‘masculine’. He sounds like a teenage girl dramatizing a chance encounter with a celebrity heart throb. Except he’s a man, an older man at that, talking about another man (and a younger man, at that). The whole thing was creepy.

Give it the ‘Eastwood’ test. I’m not suggesting that anyone should emulate or use Clint Eastwood as a role model, or filter their language through what Clint Eastwood might say. I’m just saying that if you are in doubt or find yourself crossing into questionable territory, it can be instructive.

Just ask yourself a simple question.

Would Clint Eastwood ever say that, under any conceivable circumstances?

Would Clint Eastwood ever say that he met another man at night, spiced the conversation, surrendered to the other man’s youth, who then wore him out with a fire hose?

If the answer is “no” (or ‘not in a million lifetimes’), then you might want to re-think what you’re about to say, LOL!

This article is fundamentally flawed due to the belief that all Western interventions around the world were bad. The truth is far more complicated.

Western Cold War inventions around the world, including in places like the Middle East were critically important. We were fighting Soviet backed collectivism which had the power and resources to take over and negatively influence whole nations. We know exactly how dangerous collectivists are when they successfully mobilize. When collectivists successfully relocated and re-branded themselves as progressives after the fall of the Soviet Union they just couldn’t help themselves.

All of the post Cold War inventions around the world – Yugoslavia, Somalia, Iraq, Libya and the Ukraine – were all done by progressives. We believed that we had won and that the fight for power and influence was over. But collectivists never stop. The progressive dominated EU in post 1980’s Western Europe in collaboration with progressive administration in America went interventionist utopian crazy – Clintons, Tony Blair, Merkel, George W Bush, Obama and H Clinton – The whole Samantha Power doctrine of Responsibility to Protect is pure collectivist utopianism.

Trump represents the classical liberal fightback which can be summed up as the Reagan/Kissinger doctrine. Actively supporting wherever possible regimes favourable to Western ideals. This started in Egypt with our backing of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Progressives actively supported the Muslim Brotherhood during the period when they were in power. Trump successfully helped reversed this dangerous infiltration by the far-left. And he is continuing to actively promote our values elsewhere.

The USA needs to demonstrate by neglect the results of no interventions anywhere.
A concept of neglect, to assign responsibility, that I agree with 100%.
Let Germany / Europe “deal” with Russia v Ukraine. What possible US interest beyond ego is there? Russia wants Ukraine? Go ahead, Europe then quakes in its boots, and I couldn’t care less. Wish Ukraine luck but no US lives thanks boys.

Fundamentally flawed is too strong of a criticism. The article is written from a liberal know nothing snobs point of view and includes the typical boilerplate either/or arguments and personal opinions of the writer.

Getting past them the impact on closed minded liberals reading it will cause heads to splody.

The impact of MbS on the Kingdom and larger Islamic world is given fair treatment here by a third rate intellect of a writer.

Insufferable weasels like Tommy Friedman should be drop-kicked into an ISIS/Daesh camp and left to fend for themselves.

It is irksome to think of this putz doing an interview with Prince Salman.
He probably brought shame on us every time he opened his little rodent mouth.

Thanks, Sundance, for the heads up on this…and for your insights.
Most excellent description of this proggy mouthpiece and a pleasure to read.

The thought of Friedman trying to “jump on the MbS bandwagon” is nauseating.
Something tells me that this young Saudi Prince is savvy enough to recognize what a sniveling decepticon this guy is, and kept his guard up.

Ruth 4:20 Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon;
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Ruth 4:21Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed;
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Matthew 1:4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Matthew 1:5Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Luke 3:32the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

Considering all the conquering, forced conversions and sex slavery Islam has imposed on the world within its reach, since its inception, it’s no surprise that Muslims, indigenous to the Middle east, have Jewish DNA.

I don’t know that an Arabic Salmon is the same line as the Jewish Salmon, since common names and words between near cultures can be the same, but will carry very different meanings and origins in each language and culture. Also, names repeated then, as now, among people who had no blood relation to one another.

Still, your observation is very interesting. That would be quite a twist-of-fate “rabbit hole.”

only mixed blood lines through interaction/breeding between them….God definitely established separate trees….Muslims often have similar names as they revere Ibrahim (Abraham) as their father and Esau (Jesus) as a prophet

In interviews, press conferences and debates, they pack negatives, insinuations and assertions packed into questions like politicians pack bills with pork.

Journalists are less honest because they are less accountable since Sullivan vs NYTimes…which took away much of the constraint and deterrence/consequences for slander/libel. Sullivan vs NYT needs to be revisited and repealed.

There is a fundamental difference between utopian-minded progressives wanting the Middle East and other parts of the world to be like us, and the political right-wing intervening to stop collectivists from taking over large parts of the world.

We know that the extreme left actively tried to build power and influence around the world for decades. Classical liberals in the West were effectively forced into a defensive action which involved moving troops and munitions into distant lands to support favourable regimes. Putin is doing this right now in Syria.

When the Anglosphere launched huge military missions into continental Europe and Asia during WW2, it was not motivated by utopianism. Lumping all forms of intervention together is just pure idiocy which is what many people on the political right are doing.

Collectivists successfully relocated and rebranded after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They had been infiltrating Western Europe and America for decades so by the 1990’s they were in a very good position to take control which they did primarily through the powers of the EU and UN. The rise to power of the hippy generation represented by people like Tony Blair in politics, and Richard Branson in business also strengthened their grip on Western institutions.

The extreme left has Fabian utopianism in it’s bloodstream. Their successful defeat of Slobodan Milosevicthe in the Yugoslavia War sent the progressives into an interventionist frenzy. Further regime changes in Iraq and Libya, the overthrowing of a democratically elected government in the Ukraine, the active support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and their most recent attempt to depose Assad in Syria is evidence of interventionism on a grand scale.

We knew exactly how much collectivists were attempting to build power and influence during the cold-war which resulted in the successful neo-con strategy described below:

‘Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.’

But the political right-wing went to sleep after defeating communism at the end of the 1980’s. A massive shift of the Overton window during the following two decades further disguised the extent to which the extreme left had completely taken control. Classical liberals even began to label the actions of their ideological enemy as their own resulting in them further retreating from the world stage.

The evidence for a major ideological switch having taken place within Western civilization during the last 1/4 century, and the resulting rise of the neo-progressives (who have absolutely nothing to do with the 1950’s -1980’s neo-cons such as Reagan and Kissinger) who I’m suggesting went interventionist crazy post-late 1990’s really depends on understanding the Bush family.

Most people can probably accept the idea that the Clinton’s are both neo-progressives but surely George W Bush was a conservative president. We know that he was strongly ideologically aligned with Tony Blair who is unquestionably a raving progressive. In fact, Bush was also best buddies with Invite-All-The-Muslims-Merkel and Heir-To-Blair-Cameron.

We also know that the Bush family hate Trump because he wouldn’t stop talking about illegal immigration. Such ‘racist’ talk would have seemed very disturbing to these pro-amnesty people. And lets not forget that both Bush presidents oversaw massive increases in the size of government in America during their terms in office.

George W Bush was also more than happy to pursue the sub-prime mortgage scams started under the Clinton administration and the later bank bailouts because continuing Bill Clinton’s wonderful progressive policies to help the black community obtain properties they couldn’t afford was just so very conservative. And did you know that the Bush family are friends with the Bono’s who openly praised George W Bush for his African AIDS relief program?

generally a good comment but the W administration began warning of economic instability due to CRA and BJ’s strengthening of it in 1995 as early as 2003…..the continuation of government supported entitlement (Fannie and Freddie Mac) were spearheaded by none other than Barney Frank and Chris Dodd

I have to laugh at the efforts by everyone, which I whole heartedly applaud, to avoid any discussion of the buffoon named Freidman, an economist who has earned his mantle the hard way, he shat himself! He is disgusting and therefore and easy subject to avoid. Keep up the good work Treepers! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

“There is no way, he added, to root out all corruption from top to the bottom, “So you have to send a signal, and the signal going forward now is, ‘You will not escape.’ And we are already seeing the impact,” like people writing on social media, “I called my middle man and he doesn’t answer.” Saudi business people who paid bribes to get services done by bureaucrats are not being prosecuted, explained M.B.S. “It’s those who shook the money out of the government” — by overcharging and getting kickbacks.”

I love the bewildered statement by Friedman when he relays his amazement that ordinary Saudi citizens are cheering MbS shaking the dirty money out of the corrupt princes without a trial. It’s like, for all that he claims to know about the kingdom, he can’t comprehend that Saudi culture and societal norms are completely different than his own and living under an absolute monarchy is not the same as living in a federal republic. His smarmy elitism permeates throughout the entire article.

And, of course, we have the usual lefty smooch to Iran’s rear end and lofty proclamations its’ “unassailable” position as regional hegemon. Never mind that they’re practically on the brink of economic collapse (just like they were before Barry bailed them out to the applause of coastal elites like Friedman) and that they’ve lost a number of their best military minds in Syria. More Iranians are starting to openly defy the regime, and I am certain Trump will not turn his back on them like Barry did. I wouldn’t be stunned if the Saudis, Egyptians, and the other Gulf countries are currently spreading subversive propaganda against the Iranian regime across the country.

This is the true Arab Spring. But rather than spreading chaos, it is spreading reform.

“But one thing I know for sure: Not a single Saudi I spoke to here over three days expressed anything other than effusive support for this anticorruption drive. The Saudi silent majority is clearly fed up with the injustice of so many princes and billionaires ripping off their country. While foreigners, like me, were inquiring about the legal framework for this operation, the mood among Saudis I spoke with was: “Just turn them all upside down, shake the money out of their pockets and don’t stop shaking them until it’s all out!””

When Friedman heard those words I wonder if it dawned on him that’s the same sentiment in the USA vis-a-vis the citizinery’s feeling toward globalists and their political puppets and it’s why PDJT is POTUS.

Will Freidman ever give PDJT credit for his handiling of ISIS and the Middle East?

The best news about Saudi Arabia is that the Total Fertility Rate has been plummeting for two decades. On average, Saudi women are having only 2.2 children verses 6 potential Jihadists per woman the previous generation. Hopefully; the decline will continue until they not breed themselves into oblivion.